STATE FILM INCENTIVES ON CUTTING ROOM FLOOR.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

It's a wrap for Film California First, an incentive program that allocated $21 million in recent years in an attempt to keep more movie and television productions in California.

``It was one of the best incentives for filming in California and locally in Los Angeles and was very successful,'' Daryl Seif, spokesman for the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which handles film permitting in Los Angeles, said Thursday. ``Every little bit helps when you are taking a look at keeping production local.''

The program, administered by the California Film Commission, is a casualty of the state's fiscal crisis and was not funded under the compromise budget adopted by the Legislature.

The elimination of the program comes as the entertainment industry fights a continuing battle against runaway production, a growing phenomenon that has seen numerous projects lured to other states and to foreign countries extending from Canada to Australia, which offer better financial incentives.

Film California First was allocated $7.9 million in funds for the fiscal year ending June 30 and had been championed by Gov. Gray Davis. The program had benefited 3,500 productions over a two-year period by rebating certain production costs associated with filming on public property.

``We're incredibly disappointed,'' California Film Commission Director Karen Constine said in a statement. ``But the fact is that every agency is having to do their fair share to make sure the budget is balanced.

``The commission acknowledges the constraints but at the same time believes California continues to offer the best for everything a filmmaker needs.''

The commission itself loses 60 percent of its budget, which is proposed to shrink from $2.9 million to just $1.2 million. It is not yet known how the cuts would affect staffing and other services.

``The governor does think these are important programs but in a year with such intense fiscal pressure, very painful choices had to be made,'' said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for Davis.

Runaway production has resulted in a loss of thousands of industry-related jobs in the state and has been particularly devastating to film crews - grips, gaffers, caterers, location scouts, drivers, camera operators, set decorators. These jobs are filled for minimal rates in the more-affordable countries, which lowers overall productions costs.

But also hurt by runaway production are restaurants and other ancillary businesses that benefit from local film production.

The EIDC estimated last April that in the Los Angeles area alone, filming provides jobs for more than 220,000 people, generating $31.8 billion in local business and generating tax revenue for the city, county and state.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com